Plate-lifting mechanism for rolling mills



March 8,1927. 3962,32

T. McABE l PLATE LIFTING MECHANISM FOR nomma MILLS Filed Aug. 14, 1925 5 Swami-Sheet l U/lflg '2' ZA/VENTO@ T60/nds /175 6' ae.

/QT To PNE V5 March 8, 1927. 1,620,032

T. MCCABE PLATE LIFTING MECHANISM FOR ROLLING MILLS Filed Aug. 14. 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 .ZN VEN TOE H7- TQIQNF n@ March 8, 1927. T. MCCAB 1,620,032

PLATE LIFTING MECHANISM FOR ROLLING' MILLS Filed Aug. 14, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 of? gy- @www 1,620,032 March 8 l1927. T. MCCABE PLATE LIFTING MECHANISM FOR ROLLINGMILLS Filed Aug. 14. 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Z5 v 'PEV W f7 T TOP/VE V5 March 8 1.9271a Y T. MCCABE PLATE LIFTING lVIECIAlI-SB/` FOR ROLLING MILLS 5 Sheiets-Sheet "5 Filed Aug. 14. 1925 /q TTOENEKJ,

Patented Mar.. 8, 1927..

THOMAS MGCABE, OF ARNOLD-EBOROUGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

PATENT' carica..

PLATE-LIFTlNG MECHANIS FOR ROLL-ING MILLS.

Application med August 14, 1925. Serial No. 50,277.

This invention relates to plate lifting of the rolls :c of arolling mill, and an actumechanisms forrolling mills, and is an imating mechanism for said carrier constructprovement on the plate lifting mechanism that forms the subject-matter of my U. S. Patent No. 1,538,251, dated May 19, 1925.

One object of my present invention is to eliminate the segmentalracks and co-operating pinions of the mechanism described in my said prior patent without reducing the eilicienc of the mechanism.

Anot er Objectis to provide a plate lifting mechanism for rolling mills in which the carrier that moves the plates upwardly into vposition to be grasped by the operator stand ing in front of the rolls of the mill, follows the contour of the top roll in its upward travel and moves rearwardly a considerable distance away from saidtop roll in its downward travel when the mill is being used for breaking down short bars that are being rolled into packs. Other objects and desirable features of my invention will be hereinafter pointed out.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a vertical longitudinal sectional' view of a plate lifting ed sc as to bodil move said carrier upwardly from its receiving position, shown in Fi ure 8, into its discharge position, shown 1n Figure 1, then rearwardly and downwardly into the position shown in Figure 2, and thence back to the position shownin Figure 3. During the upwardmovement of the carrier A the front end of said carrier follows the contour of the top roll of the mill', but'during the downward movement of the carrier the front end of same .will either follow the contour of said' top roll, or will move rearwardly a considerable distance away from the top roll, de ending upon whether long plates or short E rolled in the mill, the actuating mechanism for the carrier being so constructed thatthe operator lin charge of the mill can manipulate a coupling pin so as to disconnect certain parts of said actuating mechanism, and thus cause the carrier to follow the contour of the top roll on its downward stroke, when long plates are to be rolled in the mill.

ars are being mechanism embodying my present inventions*` The Cslllel actuating mechanism Call .be constructed 1n various ways withoutdeparttaken on the section` line 1-1 of Figure 5, showing the carrier in its discharge position.

Figure 2 is a. longitudinally sectional view, taken on the same section line, illustrating how the'carrier moves rearwardly a consid-l erable distance away from the top roll of the mill during its downward travel.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view, taken on the same section line, illust-rating the carrier in its receiving position.

Figure 4 is a side elevatmnal view, illustrating the carrier, moving into its elevated position. l

Figure 5 is a top plan view of the mechanism. i a

Figure 6 is'a Vfront elevational view of the mechanism. v

Figure 7 is a top plan view, with the car-` 'bottom rplan view vof the ing from the spirit of my invention, but it will usually comprise pairs of rock levers B and C oscillatingly mounted on the frame of the mechanism and pivotally connected at one end to a carrier support D, on which the carrier is rockabl and reciprocatingly mounted, and a. rotata le drive. shaft E combined'with' said rock levers in such a way that said levers will swing upwardly from the position shown in Figure 3 into the position shown in Figure 1, during the first half of the forward revolution of the drive shaft E, and will swing downwardly into the position shown in Figure 2, and thence into the position shown in Figure 3, during the lastvhalf of the forward revolution ofsaid drive shaft. `Said mechanism also comprises trated as consisting of a rock arm F, a spring 'G and a1 toggle composed of two links 1 and 2. The frame of the mechanism is composed of a number of vertically-disposed members Y 3' arranged in parallelrelation and rigidly connected together by transversely-disposed bolts or tie bars and spacing devices, and if desired, said frame can lbe provided with flanged supporting wheels 4 that'travel on the rails 5 of a track.. Ithereby `enablugthel mechanism to be moved as a unit towards and away from the rolls of the mill. The drive shaft E of the carrier actuating mechanism, which is arranged horizontally and rotatably mounted in the frame of the mechanism, is provided at one end with a clutch, designated as an entirety in Figure 6 by the reference character H which may be of the type described in my U. S. patent previously referred to, said clutch comprising tripping dogs 6 arranged so that when they are moved in one direction by an operating device 7 shown in Figure 10, a driven memberS on the drive shaft E will be engaged by a rotatable driving member, and when said dogs are restored to normal position by a spring 9, they will cause said driven member to be disengaged from the driving member. In the operation ofthe mechanism the clutch H is operated manually to cause the drive shaft E to make one-half a revolution and then come to rest, thereby causing the carrier A to move upwardly into its discharge position, and thereafter said clutch is manually operated so as to cause the driveshaft to make another half revolution, and thus restore the carrier A to its receiving position. At the opposite end of the drive shaft E is a rigid crank arm 10, which is connected by a curved link 11 with an arm 12 secured to a shaft 13 to which the rock lever B is fastened. An elbow lever 13 is secured to the shaft 13 and one arm of said elbow lever is joined by a horizontally-disposed link 14 to an arm 15 on the rock lever C which is secured to' a horizontally-disposed shaft/16, thereby causing the levers B and C to operate in unison when the drive shaft E is in operation. The levers B are pivotally connected by a shaft 17 to the front lower end of the carrier support D, and the levers C are pivotally connected by a shaft 18 to the lower rear end of said carrier support, and in order to assist said levers to move said carrier support upwardly and downwardly, said levers are combined with counterbalanc-v ing weights I which are arranged vertically at opposite sides of the path of -movement of the carrier A. as shown in Figure 6, the levers C havingr their ends pivota'lly connected at 19a to saidl weights and one arrnlof each of the elbow levers 13a previously mentioned being pivotally connected at 19 to- 'said weights. When the carrier A -movesupwardly the counterweights I move downwardly, and when said carrier moves downwardly into its receiving position, said counterbalancing weights are restored to their normal elevated position. Due to the fact that the counterweights I are pivotally connected to the levers C and to the elbow levers 13a with which the levers B are combined, they tie said levers together and (zo-operate with the straight links 14 to insure `parallel movement of saidrock levers.

The carrier A is provided on its underside with a pair of longitudinally-disposed guides 20 that receive rollers 21 on the carrier support D, and the rear end of sai-d carrier is pivotally connected by a horizontally-disposed shaft 22 to the upper end of the rock arm F, previously referred to, that forms part of the means for reciprocating the carrier relatively to the carrier support D. The lower end of said rock arm F is pivotally connected with the rock levers C and is so arranged that when said levers swing upwardly during the upward stroke of the carrier A, said rockarm F will cause the front end of the carrier to tilt downwardly, lthereby facilitating the discharge of the plate or bundle of plates from the front end of the carrier over the top roll of the mill. In the form of myinvention herein illustrated the rock levers C are provided with adjustable, angularly-disposed eXtension members 23 thatsustain a horizontallydspo'sed cross shaft 24 which passes through tween the carrier support D and the rock levers C and being clamped to said rock levers by boltsl 25 that pass through curved slots 26 in said extenson members. If it is desired to vary the ldistance between the front edge of the carrier A and the top roll of the mill, when the carrier is in its discharge position, tlie bolts 25 can be loosened and the extension members 23 thereafter adjusted so as to vary the angular relation-` ship between the rock levers C and the portions of said extension members which sustain the cross shaft 24 that supports the rock arm F. During the upward movement 'of said rock varm adjustable stops 27 thereon engage a tailpiece 28 on the rear end of the carrier and exert pressure on same in a vdirection to cause the front end of the carrier to tilt downwardly. Consequently, bv adjusting the stops 27 the tilt or angle of the carrier A, when it is in its discharge position, can be varied. The spring G, previously referred to, is connected to thecarrier support D, and to the -rock arm F, and

consequently, exerts pressure on said rock arm in a direction tending to move the carrier A forwardly and hold the rollers 21 `on the carrier support at the rear ends of Preferably, l

the guides 20 on the carrier. the rear end portions of said roller guides 2O are -curved downwardly at 20,`as shown in Figures 1 and 3, so thatwhen lsaid can rier is being restored to its receiving position, it will move upwardly relatively4 to the carrier support D, and thus cause theplate supporting portion of said vcarrie'r toflnove upwardly into engagement with the plate orbar, which at this time is sustained by work supporting members J, hereinafter described, that are arranged at the rear of the rolls of the mill.

The toggle links 1 and 2, previously re ferredto, which are used to move the carrier A rearwardly away from the top roll of the mill, during the downward stroke of said carrier, are interposed between an adj ustable extension member 29 connected with one of the rock levers B, and .a rockable member 30 that is osoillatingly mounted on the shaft 24 at one side of the rock arm F and which is combined with sai-d rock arm in such ya manner that it moves with same during the downward stroke of the carrier. The extension member 29 is so arranged that it can be rocked about an axis coincident with the pivotal connection between one of the rock levers B and the lower front end of the carrier support to vary the degree of rearward movement imparted to the carrier, andis adjustably connected to said rock lever B by a bolt 31 that passes through a curved slot 32 in said extension member. The toggle links are pivotally connected together by a'pivot 33, and the front link 1 is pivotally connected. at 1L to the upper end of the extension member 29 just referred to, the rear toggle link 2 being pivotally connected at 2 to the rockable member 30 just referred to. Movement is transmitted from the rockable member 30 to the rock arm F by a transmission member K Vadjustably connected with the rockable member 30 and provided with a shiftabl coupling pin 34 that normally is arranged in a hole in one edge of the rock arm F. In the form of my invention herein illustrated the transmission kmember K-is loosely mounted on the hub of the rockable member 30 and,

the coupling pin 434 is in engagement with A the rock arm F, the toggle links 1 and 2 virtually `act as a strutto transmit movement from the extension member 29 on the rock lever B tothe rockable member 30, and the transmission member K transmits movement to the rock armFl when the rock levers B and C swing downwardly from the position shown in Figure 1, thereby causing the carrier A to move rearwardly far enough to cause thefrontendiof same to'cleartheA work supporting members J at the rear fof the rolls of the mill, as shown in Figure f i 2. During the downward movement of the F and the carrier A forwardly into the pol sition shown in Figure 3. If the mill is being used for rolling long stock, or in other words, is being used for rolling one piece at a time, the coupling pin 34 is disconnected from the rock arm F, for at such times it is not necessary that the front end of the carrier A clear the work supporting members J at the rear of the rolls 'during the downward stroke of the carrier, because the plate is not'passed through the rolls of the mill until the carrier A is in position to -receive said plate. The plate receiving portion of the carrier is preferably formed by a renewable wear piece 39 that can be replaced when it becomes badly worn, and said carrier is provided .at its rear end with rollers 40 so as to cause the pack to discharge or run olf the carrier after being finished. In my improved plate lifting mechanism herein illustrated all that is necessary after the pack has been rolled out to the required length, is to allow the carrier to move downwardly into the position shown in Figure 3 while' the operator holds onto the pack., The pack is about once and a half as long as the carrier A, and the operator, by giving it a push rearwardly, will cause it to be discharged from the rear end of the carrier onto the ground or into al re- ,oeptacle provided for this purpose. Instead of mounting the rollers 21 directly on the carrier support I), I prefer to mount said lui n rollers on a hinged plate 41 on the carrier support. The purpose of constructing the mechanismy in this manner ito eliminate breakage of the carrier actuating mechanism in the event the carrier A fails to move rearwardly during its downward travel. In other words, if the means that is used to causing injury tov the mechanism, this, of

course, being made possible by reason of the fact that the rollers 21, which are arranged in the guideways 20 on the carrier. are carried by a hinged plate 41 on the carrier su port. In order vthat the carrier A may e adjusted to compensate for wear on the bearings of thebottom roll of the mill,A the carrier support D is provided wlth adjustable stops 42 which support the freeend of the hinged roller supporting plate 41..

The mechanism comprises a plurality of Work supporting members J, previously referred to, which are arranged atthe rear of the rolls of the mill for receiving the plate or bar that is passed through the rolls. Said members J are constructedin the form of arms that project rearwardly from a horizontally-disposed rock shaft 43, and means is provided for raising and lowering said arms consisting of a cam 44 on the drive" shaft E, a rockable member 45 arranged above said cam and adapted to be raised and lowered by same, and an arm 46 on the rock shaft 43 that co-operates with a roller 47 on the member 45, as shown clearly in Figures l to 4. A plurality of stationary members 48, also constructed in the form of arms, are arranged between the members J and project forwardly from same into the space between the rolls of the mill, said members `|48 being rigidly secured to a stationary shaft 49 that is preferably carried by brackets secured to the housing ofthe` mill. The cam 44 is so timed that the work supporting members J with a plate support ed thereon will swing downwardly into a horizontal position just about the time the carrier A starts on its upward movement.

After said carrier starts to move upwardlyA the cam 44 moves the work supporting members J upwardly into the position.

shown in Figure l, and holds said members in this position until the carrier A is restored to its receiving position. As shown in Figure 5, the front end portion of the carrier A is provided with slots 50 arranged so that the members J and 48 will not interfere with the movement of the carrier.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: f A

l. yA plate lifting mechanism for rolling mills, comprising a work supporting means arranged at the rear of the rolls of the millfor receiving the work discharged from the rolls, a carrier for movin 0 the work upwardly into a position to -be discharged Yforwardly over the top roll of the mill, and an actuating mechanism for said carrier constructed so as to bodily raise and lower the carrier and cause it to assume a discharge position' with its front end tilted downwardly towards the top roll, and thereafter move rearwardly far enough to clear said work supporting means durin the downward stroke ofsaid carrier.-

2.- plate lifting mechanism for rolling mills, comprising a work supporting means arranged at the rear of the rolls of the mill for receiving the work discharged from the rolls, a carrier for moving the work upwardly into a position to be discharged forwardly over the top roll of the mill, and an operating mechanism constructed so as to bodily raise and lower the carrier, cause the carin it is tilted downwardly towards the top roll, and thereafter move rearwardly during its downward stroke far'enough to clear said work supporting means.

3. A plate lifting mechanism for rolling mills, comprising a work supporting means arranged at the rear of the rolls of the mill for receiving the work discharged from the rolls, a carrier, and an operating mechanism for the carrier for causing the carrier to move upwardly into proximity to the top roll of the mill, then move downwardly and rearwardly out of the path of said work supporting means and then move forwardly into operative relationship with said work support-ing means.

l4. A plate lifting mechanism for rolling mills, comprising a work supporting means arranged at the rear of the rolls of the mill, a carrier for moving the work upwardly from said work supporting means into a position to discharge forwardly over the top roll of the mill, means for raising and lowering said carrier, means 'for reciprocating said carrier endwise while it is being raised and lowered, and means for enabling the operator in charge of the mill to render said carriage reciprocating means inactive without adecting the operation of said carrier raising and lowering means.

5. A plate lifting mechanism for rolling mills, comprising a' work supporting means arranged at the rear of the rolls of the mill, a carrier adapted to receive the work from said supporting means and move the work upwardly into proximity to the top roll of the mill, a mechanism for raising and lowering the carrier, and a. means capable of being ycoupled with said mechanism or disconnected from same for causing the carrier to move rearwardly far enough during its downward stroke to clear said work supporting means.

6..A plate lifting mechanism for rolling mills, comprising a carrier arranged at the rear of the rolls of the. mill for receiving work discharged from the rolls and moving said work upwardly into proximity to the top roll of the mill, a frame, counterweighted rock levers on said frame, a support for the ,car-

'rier pivotally connected to said levers and adapted tobe moved bodilynupwardly and then downwardly, and means for tilting-or rocking the carrier relatively to said carrier isupport while said carrier is moving upwardly so as to cause said carrier to be arranged in a position with its front end tilted downwardly towards the top roll of the mill.

7. A yplate llifting mechanism forkrolling lul) v mills, comprising a carrier arranged at the rear of the rolls of the mill, a support on which said carrier is rockably mounted, means for bodily raising and lowering said support, and an adjust-able means for tilting the front end of the carrier downwardly more or less towardsgthe top rollof the mill, 1

durng the upward travel of the carrier suppor e 8. A plate lifting mechanism for rolling mills, comprising a carrierarranged at the rear of the rolls of the mill, a support on which said carrier is rockably mounted, an operating mechanism for bodily raising and lowering said support, and a member pivotally connected to said mechanism and to the rear end of the carrier for holdingthe carrier in a substantially horizontal position during the first portion of its upward stroke and for tilting the front end of the carrier downwardly towards the top roll of the mill b efore said carrier reaches lts discharge position.

9. A plate lifting mechanism for rolling mills, comprising a frame arranged at the rear of the rolls of the mill, pairs of counterweighted rock levers on said frame, means for rocking said levers upwardly and downwardly, a support carried by said levers, a carrier rockably mounted on said support, and a member pivotally connected to the rear end lof said carrier and to angularlydisposed portions on one of said pairs of rock levers.

10. A plate lifting mechanism for rolling mills, comprising a frame arranged at the rear ofthe rolls ofthe mill, pairs of counterweio'hted rock levers on said frame, means for roc ing said levers upwardly and downwardly, av support carried by Jsaid levers, a carrier rockably mounted on said support, a. member pivotally connected to the rear end of said carrier and to singularly-disposed portions on one of said pairs of rock levers, and tao-operating means on said member and carrier, capable of being adjusted, for causing the carrier, to assume a downwardly-incllned position when it is at the end of its upward stroke.

11. A plate lifting mechanism for rolling mills, comprising-a frame arranged at the rear of the rolls of the mill, pairsof counterweighted rock levers on said frame connected so as to move in unison, atsupport vpivotally connected to said levers, adjustable, angularly-disposed extensions on one pair of levers, a carrier rockably mounted on said support, and a rock arm pivotally connected to lthe carrier and pivotally connected to said extensions.

12. A plate lifting mechanism for rolling mills, comprising a frame arranged at the rear of the rolls of the mill, pairs of councarrier during the upward stroke of the car- 13. A plate lifting mechanism for rolling mills, comprising a framel arranged at the rear of the rolls of the mill, pairs of counterweighted rock levers on said frame connected so as to move in unison, a drive shaft rotatably mounted in said frame, means for transmitting movement from said drive shaft to said rock levers to raise and lower said levers, a support pivotally connected to the free ends of vsaid levers, a carrier rockably mounted on said support, and an adjustable means between one pair of levers and the rear end of the carrier for sustain- .ing the carrier and causing it to rock on said the carrier relatively to said support while it is being raised and lowered.

15. A plate lifting mechanism for rolling l mills, comprising a carrier arranged at the rear of the rolls of the mill, a support on which said carrier is reciprocatingly mounted, mechanism for raising and lowering said support, a means operated by said mechanism for causing the carrier to move rearwardly relatively to saidsupport during the downward movement of said support, and a spring for moving the carrier in the opposite direction relatively to the support before said support reaches the end of its downward stroke.

16. A vplate lifting mechanism for rolling mills, comprising -a work supporting means arranged at the rear of the rolls of the mill, a carrier adapted to engage'the work sustained by said, work sup-porting means and move the work upwardly into proximity to the top roll of the mill, a support for said carrier, a mechanism for raising and lowering said support, and a means actuated by said mechanism for causing the carrier to reciprocate on said support during the downward stroke of the support and thus clear said work supporting means.

17. A plate lifting mechanism for rolling mills,- comprising a carrier arranged at the rear of the rolls'of the mill, a support for said carrier, mechanism for raising and lowering said support, means for reciprocating the carrier relatively to said support', and a coupling device under the control of the' operator in charge ofthe mill for enabling said reciprocating means to be connected with or disconnected from said mechanism.`

18. A plate lifting mechanism for rolling lto mills, comprising a carrier arranged at the rear of the rolls of the mill, a support on which said carrier is reciprocatingly mounted, a mechanism for raising and lowering said support, a toggle operated by said mechanism for moving the carrier in one direction relatively to said support, a spring which tends to resist movement of the carrier in this direction, and means for breaking said toggle or rendering it inactive before said support reaches the end of its downward stroke.

19. A plate lifting mechanism for rolling mills, comprising a carrier arranged at the rear of the rolls of the mill, a support on which said carrier is reciprocatingly mounted, a mechanism for raising and lowering said support, a rock arm pivotally connected with said mechanism and with the rear end of the carrier, a transmission member detachably connected with said rock arm, a

toggle combined with said mechanism and with said transmission member for moving said transmission member rearwardly during the downward stroke of the support, means for rendering said toggle inactive during the downward strokev of said support, and a spring `which causes said transmission member to move forwardly after said toggle has been rendered inactive.

20. 'A plate lifting mechanism for rolling mills, comprising a carrier arranged at the rear of the rolls of, the mill, a support on which said carrier is reciprocatinglymounted, pairs of front and rear counterweighted rock levers pivot-ally connected to said support for raising and lowering the same, angularly-disposed extension members on the rear rock levers, a rock arm pivotally connected to said extension member and to the rear end of the carrier, an oscillating transmission member, a coupling pin for detachably connecting said member with said rock arm, an angularly-disposed extension member on one of said front rock levers combined with a toggle that causes said transmission member to swing rearwardly during the downward stroke of the support, a spring for moving the transmission member forwardly, and means for causing said toggle to be rendered inactive during the downward stroke of said support.

21. A plate lifting mechanism for rolling mills, comprising a carrier arranged at the rear of the rolls of the mill, a support for said carrier, rollers on said support, elongated guideways on thecrrier which receive said rollers, mechanism for raising and lowering said support, a rock arm pivotally connected with said mechanism4 and with the rear end of the carrier, a spring connected with said' support and with said rock arm for resisting movement of the carrier rearwardly withl relation to said support, and means actuated by the operating mechanism `for said support for swinging said rock arm rearwardly during part o the downward stroke of said support.

22. A plate lifting mechanism for rolling mills, comprising a work supporting means arranged at the rear ot the rolls of the mill, a carrier for moving the work upwardly off said supporting means, a support on which said carrier is reciprocatinglyV mounted, mechanism for raising and lowering said support and causing said carrier to reciprocate longitudinally of same, and means for permitting the front end oii the carrier to swing upwardly in thc event it accidentally engages said work supporting means during the downward stroke of the carrier support.

23. A plate lifting mechanism for rolling mills, comprising a work supporting means arranged at the rear of the rolls of the mill,

a carrier for moving the work upwardly oli said work supporting means, a carrier support, a hinged member on said support provlded. with rollers that are arranged in elongated guideways in the carrier, and mechanis'm for raising and lowering the carrier support and causing the carrier to reciprocate rela-tively to same during the downward stroke of said carrier support.

.24. A plate lifting mechanism Jfor rolling mills, comprising a work support-ing means arranged at the rear of the rolls ot the mill, a carrier, means for raising and lowering said carrier and causing it to move rearwardly far enough to clear said work supporting a vertically movable carrier providedat its.

front end with slots so as to permit the carrier to move upwardly past said work supporting arms and remove the work therefrom, means for moving the carrier rearwardly away from said work supporting arms so as to clear the same on the downward stroke of the carrier, and an operating means for said Work supporting arms constructed so` as to normally hold said arms in an upwardly inclined position and cause them to swing downwardly into a substantially horizontal .position at about the time the carrier'travels upwardly past said arms. p

26. A plate lifting mechanism or `rolling mills, comprising work supporting arms arranged in spaced relation at the rear of the rolls of the mill, a rock shaft to which said lll) arms are connected, means for operating said rock shaft for raising and lowering said arms, a carrier for moving the work upwardly from said arms provided with slots so as to permit the carrier to move upwardly past said arms', a support for said carrier, means for raising and lowering said support, and means for causing said carrier to move rearwardly relatively to said support during part of the downward stroke of the support and thereafter move forwardly into a position under the work sustained by said work supporting arms.

27. A plate lifting mechanism for rolling mills, comprising a plurality of work supporting arms arranged in spaced relation at the rear of the rolls of the mill, a rock shaft to which said arms are connected, means for actuating said rock shaft to raise and lower said arms, a frame, pairs of rock levers on said frame connected to move in unison, counterweights attached to one end' of said rock levers, a support pivotally connected to the opposite end of said rock levers, a hinged plate on said support provided with rollers, a carrier provided with elongated guideways that receive said rollers, a rock arm pivotally attached to the rear .end of said carrier and joined to angularly-disposed extension members on one pair of rock levers, a spring attached to said carrier support and to said rock arm, and a means actuated by" one of said rock levers for moving said rock arm rearwardly so as to cause the carrier to move :rearwardly1 far enough to clear the work supporting arms while the carrier` support is `moving downwardly.

THOMAS MCCABE. 

